Andrew Bolton

Here’s a list of Hasan Minhaj’s best jokes from what sounds like the most awkward White House Correspondents’ Dinner in the history of the tradition. Knowing that basically no one from the press-hating Trump administration (including the President) even showed up, I totally would’ve been too preoccupied listening for an incoming drone strike to enjoy the comedy. [Washington Post]

Vito Acconci died of a stroke at the age of 77. The conceptual artist turned architect was best known in the art world for his performance “Seedbed” 1972 in which he camped out under a ramp in the gallery and masturbated to fantasies about viewers he voiced through a microphone. [The New York Times]

The Met Gala takes place tonight. This is a chance to look at rich people in fancy dresses. This year, guests are being encouraged to think “avant-garde” in response to the exhibition Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between. [The New York Times]

For those curious about the exhibition, Vogue got a walk-through with Chief Curator Andrew Bolton and it sounds like this is truly going to be one of the Met’s weirdest undertakings. The show spans decades of Kawakubo’s work, but it is not a retrospective and doesn’t feature her best-known work. Instead, it’s a highly-focused look at womenswear that’s organized into dichotomous categories like “Clothes / Not Clothes” or “Model/Multiple”. There is no other wall text, per the designer’s wishes. [Vogue]

Thaddaeus Ropac has opened his fourth gallery. This one’s in a converted London mansion and it’s huge. There are numerous exhibition spaces spread out over 16,000 square feet and five floors. That’s basically the amount of space some museums have. How can the market support that much art from one dealer? [Forbes]

Gentrification is basically turning all of once-cool Manhattan neighborhoods into Jersey strip malls. The Lower East Side is getting a Target and Trader Joe’s in the same building. This feels like the end of an era. [Curbed]

artnet News’ weekly “Best and Worst of the Art World” round-up is really good this week. The Smithsonian has an exhibition called Before Internet Cats and horrendously underpaid Tate employees were asked to donate to outgoing director Nicholas Serota’s going-away gift: a boat. People are pissed. [artnet News]

Critics mostly agree that the Punk show at The Met isn’t very good. I’m not a different voice in this choir, but perhaps my tenor might offer a slightly different pitch. This week at The L Magazine I explain why the Met Museum’s “Punk: From Chaos to Couture” fails.